A widely used technique for packaging complex electronic apparatus employs circuits, such as the circuits of circuit boards, carrying components arranged in modules which are interconnected together through connectors mechanically and electrically mounted on such boards. In a typical arrangement, a backpanel, or mother board, is provided which accommodates multiple daughter boards and connectors providing large numbers of signal interconnections that link the circuits of mother and daughter boards to components and to input and output transmission paths on the boards, as well as power and ground circuits for the components. Because of the low cost of photo-lithographic processing techniques, the circuits on such boards are formed by either subtractive processes wherein a thin foil of copper is etched away; or, conductive material in the form of resin bound ink is printed on the boards and subsequently electroplated to build up conductivity of the circuits. In both instances, the conductive circuits are quite thin, which, although more than suitable to carry the low milliamp and microamp currents of signals, cannot carry the higher currents, amperes and tens of amperes necessary for providing power to the components mounted on the daughter boards without excessive heating. Additionally, ground circuits which may interconnect to the components must also carry current levels frequently in excess of the capability of the thin foil or traces on the boards. To this end, bus bars of high conductivity and substantial cross-sectional area are employed on the mother board to transmit the high power levels for ground and power interconnections with the daughter boards having separate contacts tapping into the power of the bus bars. U.S. Pat. No. 4,755,145 shows one example of this technique, wherein a plurality of daughter printed circuit boards are detachably mounted on a backplane and connected to a bus bar on the same side of the backplane by contacts on the daughter board. In this prior art example, multiple contact receptacles are utilized to interconnect to a given bus bar and to distribute the energy therefrom to circuits on the daughter board. The bus bars shown therein are relatively exposed and form, in essence, blades which insert into the receptacles of the contacts mounted to the daughter board. Two problems arise in utilizing the techniques of the aforementioned prior art. The first one is that the bus bars are exposed and can be readily touched by those assembling or disassembling the boards together, or by probes employed by users of the assembly; both of which procedures can lead to safety and circuit problems. A second problem has to do with the fragile nature of small receptacle contacts which can be readily deformed or damaged in handling, assembly, and use.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an adjunct power connector designed to interconnect power and/or ground voltages and currents between the circuits such as those of printed circuit boards. It is a further object to provide a rugged power contact which is compatible with connecting power and ground circuits to the thin conductive traces of printed circuit boards. Still a further object is to provide a power connector which may be readily added to printed circuit boards to extend the power capacity for higher voltages and currents called for by the boards. It is yet a further object to provide a power connector which is capable of carrying appreciable currents and yet can be utilized with printed circuit boards having holes accessing circuits, which holes are on common centers throughout the board, signal and power.